100 BEST WAR MOVIES: 7. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

 

            “Zero Dark Thirty” is the story of the manhunt for Osama Bin Laden and his assassination. It was directed by Kathryn Bigelow. It was her next film after winning Best Picture and Best Director for “The Hurt Locker”. She was the first female director to win Best Director. She co-produced “Zero Dark Thirty”. Her screenwriter again was Mark Boal. The duo had intended to make a film about the Battle of Tora Bora, but before they started production, Bin Laden was killed and they decided to shift the focus to how that came about. Luckily, a lot of Boal’s research was applicable to the new focus. The movie cost about $50 million. Some of that money to a recreation of Bin Laden's compound. The film was successful and made $133 million. It was acclaimed and made many critics’ top ten lists. It was nominated for Oscars for Best Picture (losing to the inferior “Argo”), Best Actress (Jessica Chastain lost to Jennifer Lawrence in “Silver Linings Playbook”), Best Original Score (Boal lost to Tarantino for “Django Unchained”), and Best Film Editing. It won for Best Sound Editing. The film was a favorite for Best Picture, but criticism of its depiction of the use of torture created a backlash.

            The movie starts powerfully with telephone calls from victims of the Twin Towers destruction on 9/11. Once the stakes are established, the film becomes the story of one woman’s quest to get Bin Laden. Jessica Chastain plays Maya, who is a composite character, but based on an actual female CIA agent.  She portrays the CIA operative as obsessive and persevering (to the point of being a pain in the ass to her superiors).  Her evolution from naïve to hard as nails in the world of black sites is a theme.  Bigelow and Boal made a great decision to concentrate on this woman and build up to the mission by showing the frustrating quest to locate OBL (the movie does not dumb it down for the current events-challenged masses). The quest involves torture ("enhanced interrogation") which leads eventually to a courier which leads to the compound Bin Laden was living in. It’s not an easy journey and includes the suicide bomb death of her colleague Jessica (Jennifer Ehle). The last act is the mission to kill Bin Laden. The SEAL team is America’s best special forces operatives and they are realistically played. The reenactment is mesmerizing even for those who know what will happen.  The flight into Abbottabad  has the best use of music that I can recall in a scene like this.  Not bombastic.  I would best describe it as SEALish.  The “assault” is a blend of POV  (through night vision goggles) and fly on the wall cinematography. It’s a happy ending that was not forced because it is true.

Chastain deserved the Oscar. She is perfect in a role that would normally be a male role. Chastain is well-supported by a strong cast. It’s not all-star, but you’ll recognize many solid performers.  The biggest surprise is Chris Pratt as a Navy SEAL.  He does inject a little humor into a deadly serious movie. He’s not the class clown, but elite military types often have good senses of humor.  By the way, there is also a major part for one of my favorite actresses - Jennifer Ehle (the miniseries “Pride and Prejudice”).

            I won’t give away the plot.  The movie works on two levels.  If you are like me and have a working knowledge of the war on terrorism, it is exciting to see some key events reenacted suspensefully.  It does help to know the basics.  The dialogue assumes that.  There are numerous references to KSM (google his ugly ass).  I almost envy the majority of Americans who will find the entire movie suspenseful because they do not know what will happen next.

ACTING:   A+                

ACTION:   A+ (6/10) the only combat is the kill mission

ACCURACY: A  (hard to judge since the CIA actions are classified)      

PLOT:  A               

REALISM:   A 

CINEMATOGRAPHY:   A

SCORE:   A

SCENE:  the mission

QUOTE:  Maya:  [to Navy SEALs] Quite frankly, I didn't even want to use you guys, with your dip and velcro and all your gear bullshit. I wanted to drop a bomb. But people didn't believe in this lead enough to drop a bomb. So they're using you guys as canaries. And, in theory, if bin Laden isn't there, you can sneak away and no one will be the wiser. But bin Laden is there. And you're going to kill him for me.

            Interestingly, the movie does not do the cliché of describing the mission plan.  This was a good decision for both the informed and the historical illiterates.  It also does not flesh out the SEAL characters.  However, small touches make it clear they are not only heroes, but professionals.  There is an understated scene where Maya watches them play horse shoes and is stunned to learn that they know they are going on the mission that very night.  Subtle, but brilliant.  The movie also avoids the cliché of the corrupt or clueless authorities.  No Americans are villains.  It does take to task the risk-averse, but they are portrayed as simply too careful.   Then again, Maya is portrayed as an obsessed bitch.  Thank God she was!  CIA Director Leon Panetta comes off well, but there is little reference to Obama and none to Bush, Jr.  The movie does not lionize Obama for giving the green light.  It does not demonize Muslims.  In fact, a CIA official is tellingly depicted on his prayer mat.

            As far as accuracy, I could detect nothing egregious. The Camp Chapman suicide bombing is accurately depicted. However, much of the movie depicts events that are still classified. I trust Boal when he says the screenplay is based on research.  It also does not sugar coat what happened in that compound.  Spoiler alert:  there is no attempt to take OBL alive.  As to the controversial depiction of torture and the actionable results from inhumane interrogation, I would be surprised if those types of things did not happen.  You may want to believe otherwise, but get your head out of the sand.   It is a crying shame that the ostriches prevented this movie from a deserved Best Picture Oscar.  It is a travesty that they deprived Bigelow of a director nomination.

            In conclusion, “Zero Dark Thirty” tells the story many had been waiting to see.  It does it in a well-crafted way that does justice to history.  It is better than “The Hurt Locker” and “Lincoln”.  It will have its detractors and where you stand on this is telling.  I can tell you this much, if the movie would have been about Tora Bora, where we completely botched the chance to kill the most wanted man on Earth, it would have been a very depressing movie. You would not have left the theater thinking “USA USA USA!” You did with this movie even though it was not trying to elicit that response.

Top Ten for the Last Ten

Recently I read an article about the ten best military movies of the last ten years.  It was from a respected site and was a competent list.  However, it was heavily inhabited by box office successes and overlooked more obscure movies.  I had seen all of the movies and some of them are not good.  None of them are terrible, either.  You can see the article here.  It got me to thinking about what my list would look like so I  back and looked at list of all the significant war movies over the last ten years.  Here is my take on the top ten.

10. Beneath Hill 60 - The story of a mining engineer and his unit that dig a mine under the German line in WWI. It is an Australian film that is well-acted, claustrophobic and suspenseful.

9. My Way - If you have never seen a South Korean war film, you are missing the best combat porn available. This is the gonzo tale of two rivals who fight in the Japanese army against the Soviets and end up in a Soviet prison camp and eventually in the German army in Normandy in time for D-Day. You heard that right, now see it to believe it.

8. 13 Hours - Speaking of combat porn, this American true tale of the Benghazi incident has plenty of ammo expenditure. It does not have a political agenda. It depicts the FUBAR of modern war well. It is pretty accurate, but of course the body count is inflated.

7. Good Kill - This shamefully overlooked movie deals with drone warfare. Ethan Hawke is excellent as the stressed out and conflicted push button warrior who kills terrorists from the air conditioned comfort of an air base outside Las Vegas. Learn about the modern war on terror and its collateral damage.

6. Eye in the Sky - This movie is similar to Good Kill, but it looks at drone warfare from the political and command level. It stars Helen Mirren as the Pattonesque Colonel who is obsessed with getting a high value target and is willing to risk civilian casualties. The movie is eye-opening about the incredible technology available to the "good guys" and the political decision-making behind the scenes.

5. 13 Assassins - This is the best samurai movie to come out of Japan in a long time. 13 ronin are hired to assassinate a very villainous shogun. In the process they must stop his army at a village. They set the village up in an extreme update of Seven Samurai. The action is incredible and will leave you exhausted, but smiling. If you've seen Seven Samurai, see where samurai films are now.

4. Rogue One - This may be a sci-fi movie, but it also has a lot of the elements of a WWII movie. It is the best Star Wars movie since The Empire Strikes Back. It has some of the best combat scenes in recent war movies, an intriguing plot, and appealing characters. And the special effects are incredible. It is a prequel to the first Star Wars.

3. '71 - Another criminally overlooked gem. The title refers to 1971. A British soldier, played outstandingly by Jack O'Donnell, gets separated from his unit in Belfast during "the Troubles" between the IRA, the Protestants, and the British. In one night he encounters all sorts of intrigue and action. It's an edge of your seat thriller.

2. Lone Survivor - Another tastefully done combat porn film. Based on a true story, four SEAL team members are sent to take out a Taliban leader and end up with his jihadists trying to wipe them out. The cast is great, with Mark Wahlberg and Ben Foster standing out. Historically accurate, but enhanced for the viewing pleasure of anyone wanting a high body count.

1. Zero Dark Thirty - How did this movie not make the other list? Perhaps it was not considered to be a military movie, but if you consider movies about the war on terror to be military movies, this is the best. It accurately tells (to the best of our knowledge) the story of the take-down of Bin Laden. Jessica Chastain is amazing as the CIA analyst who tracks him down which leads to the raid. It is well worth the wait, but the lead-up is great, too.

BEST and WORST: 2013

 

 

                Another year has passed by and since I have no social life I managed to watch 95 war movies.  That means there were 95 times this past year that I sat and watched a movie without doing school work – pretty amazing.  It was a polarizing year in war movies because I am getting to the end of the Greatest 100 list which means that the movies have been better, with some notable exceptions (ex.  “Soldier of Orange”).  However, I also managed to watch some incredibly bad war movies.  So bad that I expanded my “worst” list to ten.  Keep in mind that I am referring to movies that I watched this year.  Most of the great ones, I had already seen, but not for this blog.

THE BEST

10.  Lawrence of Arabia -  an epic in every way, but especially in vistas and score  / great acting  /  fairly accurate portrayal of a fascinating personality

9.  300 -  it has its flaws, but it is so ballsy (the one part of the body we don’t see) and visceral that I love it /  plus it is actually more accurate than most war movies!

8.  Apocalypse Now-  a flawed masterpiece with a weak closing act, but when you factor in the back-story it is a fascinating work  /  the best take of the Vietnam War on drugs

7.  Full Metal Jacket -  see above  /  two movies for the price of one – part 1 is the best boot camp movie ever made and part 2 is a well-done (but not great) combat sequence

6.  Zero Dark Thirty-  similar to the above two in that it has two parts, except that in this cases it closes strongly;  a movie that has its haters, but they are wrong.  A movie was going to be made about the killing of Bin Laden and the fact is that the topic could not have been done better than this movie.

5.  When Trumpets Fade -  the only made for TV movie (HBO) on the list.  Features one of the great anti-heroes in war movie history and it is one of the most clearly anti-war movies I have seen

4.  The Longest Day -  the granddaddy of the all-star epic battle movies and still the best

3.  Black Hawk Down-  probably the movie with the most action I saw this year.  Admirably accurate retelling of a battle that would have unrecognized by most Americans if not for this movie.  A tour de force in movie making.

2.  Platoon -  it has its detractors, but it is the best Vietnam War movie and that is with strong competition.  A great study in unit dynamics and leadership so it goes beyond the usual war movie plotting.  Great ensemble acting.  People forget what a huge splash the movie made when it was released.

1.  Glory -  what’s not to like -  fantastic acting, an iconic score, two great combat scenes, amazing dialogue, etc.  Most importantly, it tells a story that needed to be told and it does it with admirable accuracy and its very entertaining

 

 

THE WORST

10.  Warbirds – a made for ScyFy creaturette which manages to integrate Japs, babes, dinosaurs, and the atomic bomb and yet still sucks!

9.  Attack on the Iron Coast -  a lame addition to the suicide mission subgenre with wooden acting, preposterous scenario, and plenty of clichés

8.  Shining Through -  Melanie Griffith as a spy in Nazi Germany – ‘nuff said!

7.  Battle of the Bulge -  the Ardennes without snow, now you’re just messing with us.  One of the most inaccurate battle movies ever.

6.  Anzio -  another epic-wannabe that gets it all wrong.  And I don’t mean just the history.  Plus, who wants to see a movie on this battle?  Are there that many Albert Kesselring fans?

5.  Hellcats of the Navy -  Ronald Reagan and the future Mrs. Reagan – their courtship would have been more entertaining.  Has every submarine cliché imaginable and all are poorly done.

4.  Welcome to Dongmakgol -  Korean War movie made by a Korean hippie.  Tarnishes the excellent reputation of Korean war movies.  The opposite of Tae Guk Gi.

3.  Darby’s Rangers -  a terrible disservice to the unit.  About ten minutes of unrealistic action.  More than one pitiful romantic sub-plot.

2.  Pathfinders:  In the Company of Strangers -  sometimes you can not overcome a low budget, unprofessional actors, a script typed by a monkey, lack of knowledge of warfare, etc.  However, there are some truly (unintentionally) hilarious moments in it

1.  The Black Brigade -  Before there was “The Miracle at St. Anna”, there was this abomination.  The worst of the “Dirty Dozen” rip-offs.  An offensive portrayal of African-Americans.  Painful to watch and not even campy.

NOW SHOWING: Zero Dark Thirty

               I rushed to see a movie today that I have been waiting more than eleven years for.  Ever since 9/11/2001.  For a few years, I had almost lost hope that the subject would ever arise.  Thank God it finally came to pass.  Then I had to worry about how Hollywood would handle the inevitable film treatment(s).  You know screenwriters immediately got to work on a rush take on it.  I really wanted to “see” the death of the most evil man of my lifetime, but I know that if inferior film comes out first, it poisons the waters for later takes.  When I heard that Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal (both of “The Hurt Locker”) were preparing a version, I felt a little more confident.  I need not have worried.  The other productions can shut down.  We now have the definitive retelling of the greatest manhunt in history.  It turns out that manhunt was led by a woman.

                The movie is amazing and is built around one of the outstanding real-life heroines in cinema history.  Jessica Chastain should win the Oscar for her performance as Maya.  She portrays the CIA operative as obsessive and persevering (to the point of being a pain in the ass for her superiors).  Her evolution from naïve to hard as nails in the world of black sites is a theme.  How ironic that the actual role model will not be able to reap the fame (at least not for a while, hopefully).  Bigelow and Boal made a great decision to concentrate on this woman and build up to the mission by showing the frustrating quest to locate UBL (the movie does not dumb it down for the current events-challenged masses).  Chastain is well-supported by a strong cast.  It’s not all-star, but you’ll recognize many solid performers.  The biggest surprise is Chris Pratt (from the wonderful “Parks and Recreation”) as a Navy SEAL.  Informed choice, considering elite military types often have good senses of humor.  By the way, there is also a major part for one of my favorite actresses- Jennifer Ehle (the miniseries “Pride and Prejudice”).

                I won’t give away the plot.  The movie works on two levels.  If you are like me and have a working knowledge of the war on terrorism, it is exciting to see some key events reenacted masterfully.  It does help to know the basics.  The dialogue assumes that.  There are numerous references to KSM (google his ugly ass).  I almost envy the majority of Americans who will find the entire movie suspenseful because they do not know what will happen next.

                The movie opens chillingly with a blank screen (no opening credits) and audio from phone calls from victims of 9/11.  Just in case you needed to be reminded about the stakes.  It closes with the mission.  In between is a fascinating quest to locate the most wanted man on Earth.  Bigelow throws in some shocking acts of terrorism to juice the narrative.  The reenactment of mission is mesmerizing even for those who know what will happen.  The flight into Abbottabad  has the best use of music that I can recall in a scene like this.  Not bombastic.  I would best describe it as SEALish.  The “assault” is a blend of POV and fly on the wall cinematography.  It is not frenetic like in “Act of Valor” (a movie I love).  You won’t feel like you are playing a first person shooter.   You will be on the edge of your seat.

                Interestingly, the movie does not do the cliché of describing the mission plan.  After all those days of waiting (angrily tallied on her bosses window by Maya), we are suddenly thrust into the big night.  This was a good decision for both the informed and the historical illiterates.  It also does not flesh out the SEAL characters.  However, small touches make it clear they are not only heroes, but professionals.  There is an understated scene where Maya watches them play horse shoes and is stunned to learn that they know they are going on the mission that very night.  Subtle, but brilliant.  The movie also avoids the cliché of the corrupt or clueless authorities.  No Americans are villains.  It does take to task the risk-averse, but they are portrayed as simply too careful.   Then again, Maya is portrayed as an obsessed bitch.  Thank God she was!  CIA Director Leon Panetta comes off well, but there is little reference to Obama and none of George W. Bush.  The movie does not lionize Obama for giving the green light.  It does not demonize Muslims.  In fact, a CIA official is tellingly depicted on his prayer mat.

                As far as accuracy, I could detect nothing egregious.  I have read extensively on the subject.  I read “SEAL Target Geronimo” and the mission is basically as chronicled in that book.  The movie does not add any explosions.  It also does not sugar coat what happened in that compound.  Spoiler alert:  there is no attempt to take UBL alive.  As to the controversial depiction of torture and the actionable results from inhumane interrogation, I would be surprised if those types of things did not happen.  You may want to believe otherwise, but get your head out of the sand.   It is a crying shame that the ostriches will prevent this movie from a deserved Best Picture Oscar.  It is a travesty that they have already deprived Bigelow of a director nomination.

                In conclusion, “Zero Dark Thirty” tells the story many have been waiting to see.  It does it in a well-crafted way that does justice to history.  It is better than “The Hurt Locker” and “Lincoln”.  It will have its detractors and where you stand on this is telling.  I’m not sure if it is a war movie, but whatever genre it falls into- it is outstanding.

grade = A